History of Butler and Bremer counties, Iowa, Part 102

Author: Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1316

USA > Iowa > Butler County > History of Butler and Bremer counties, Iowa > Part 102
USA > Iowa > Bremer County > History of Butler and Bremer counties, Iowa > Part 102

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L. S. Hanchett was born in Chautauqua county, New York, on the 14th day of July,

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HISTORY OF BREMER COUNTY.

1843. He is the son of Joseph C., and Sabrina (Howard) Hanchett. L. S. was reared on a farm, and received a liberal education. In 1861 he enlisted in the Forty-ninth New York Volunteer In- fantry, and participated in the following engagements: Yorktown, May 3, 1862; Williamsburg, May 5, 1862; Mechanics- ville, May 5, 1862; South Mountain, Sep- tember 14, 1862; Antietam, September 17, 1862; first and second battles at Fredericks- burg and Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. He was taken prisoner near Spotsylvania court house, and was thrown into prison at An- dersonville, where he remained six months, when he was exchanged, and returned to his regiment. He participated with Grant before Petersburg, and at the surrender of Lee. The company left Buffalo eighty strong, but only eight returned with the regiment. In January, 1865, Mr. Hanchett came to Bremer county, Iowa, and em- barked in the mercantile business. In the fall of 1875 lie was elected sheriff of the county, which office he filled for three terms. In the fall of 1881, he was elected to the State Legislature. In 1878 he was married to Miss Kate Wuest, a native of Germany. By this union there are two children-Ray, and Lou.

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.

The Third Constitutional Convention convened at Iowa City, on the 19th of January, 1857, and adjourned on March 5, 1857. Bremer county was associated with the counties of Fayette, Butler, Franklin, Grundy, Hardin, Wright, Webster, Boone, Story, Greene, Allamakee, Winnesheik and Humboldt as District No. 33, and was represented by Sheldon Greenleaf Win-

chester, of Eldora, Hardin county, where he is yet one of the most prominent early settlers.

AUDITOR OF STATE.

Before its organization Bremer county was represented in this office by William Pattee, who was elected August 5, 1850, and re-elected August 2, 1852, serving two terms. He was a Democrat.

John Pattee was appointed by the Gov- ernor, September 13, 1855, to fill the va- cancy caused by the resignation of An- drew J. Stevens. After filling out the term he was elected by the people, August 4, 1856, and served until January 3, 1859. John Pattee was a republican in politics.

W. V. Lucas was elected Auditor of State at the November election, 1880, and served during 1881 and 1882. He was for many years a resident of this county, and was for six years county treasurer, but was not a resident when elected, having removed to Mason City where he yet re- sides, and is engaged in the newspaper business.

BANK EXAMINER OF 10WA.

Hon. Louis Case, of Waverly, is the only citizen of Bremer county that has filled this position, having been appointed in March, 1877. As he has for many years been in public life, and been prominent in official matters, a sketch of his life is here presented:

Hon. Louis Case, one of the early set- tlers of Bremer county, was born in Har mony, Chautauqua county, New York, July 6, 1834. He was the twelfth of fourteen children, of George E. and Sally (Alexan der) Case, natives of New York; thirteen

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HISTORY OF BREMER COUNTY.

of the children lived to be adults, and ten are living at the present time. The united ages of those living are 574 years. In 1854 the parents of Mr. Case left New York emigrating to Bremer county, where his father died, January 30, 1867, and his mother died March 5, 1877. His father was a soldier in the War of 1812. IIe was wounded and taken prisoner at the battle of Queenstown Heights, and received a pension until his death. The subject of this sketch was reared upon a farm. He attended one term at Maysville Academy, and a term at the Jamestown Academy, a prominent educational institute in Chau- tauqua county; with these exceptions his education was obtained at the district school. In 1857, when in his twenty-first year, Mr. Case resolved to seek fame and fortune in the west, and accordingly emi- grated to Illinois, locating in DeKalb county. There lie remained one year, engaged in teaching school. In March, 1855, he again emigrated westward, loca- ting at Delhi, Delaware county, Iowa, where he was employed in the office of the recorder of deeds. This position he re- tained until August of the same year, when he settled at Waverly, Bremer county, where he has since resided. En- tering the office of recorder as clerk soon after his arrival. Mr. Case continued there until June, 1858. In August of that year, he was elected clerk of the district court. In October, 1860, he was re-elected to the samė effice, having received a unanimous nomination in the republican county con- vention. In October, 1864, he was elected recorder of deeds for Bremer county, con- tinuing in that office the two succeeding years. In January, 1869, he was appointed

by the board of supervisors of Bremer county, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Hon. O. F. Avery, county judge. In October following, he was elected the first county auditor, serving the full term. He was next elected Represen- tative of Bremer county, in the State Leg- islature, in October, 1873, and was re-elec- ted Representative in October, 1875; besides several more important offices not named. Mr. Case was on the school board of the city of Waverly in the years 1873- 74-75, and three times elected assessor of the same city. He was joint proprietor of the Waverly Republican. He has been notary public of Bremer county, during . eighteen successive years, and has profita- bly conducted an extensive land and con- veyance business, when not officially en- gaged. In his political life he has been invariably a republican. While not an office seeker, Mr. Case has served the county more years that any other person mentioned in this work. His official work has been valuable to the county, and he is one of those men who believe that honesty and purity are as essential in public as in private life. Efficient, accommodating and honorable, he is one of the most pop- ular men in this part of the State.

GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENTS.

In 1881, W. B. Wilcox was appointed assistant paymaster of the navy, and is now on duty. He was reared in Bremer county, and learned his trade-printing- in the Waverly newspaper offices. He is an intelligent and capable young man.

Lesley Fisk received an appointment in the military service of the government, and is now in charge of an engineering

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HISTORY OF BREMER COUNTY.

force somewhere in the south. He is a graduate of West Point, and ranked high in his class on graduating.

COUNTY JUDGE.

As stated in connection with the chapter devoted to the "Courts of Bremer County," this office was created by an act of the General Assembly, in 1851. It was the most important office in the gift of the people of the county.' This official, assisted by a county prosecuting attorney and a sheriff, held what was termed county court, and transacted almostall the business now devolving upon the auditor, board of super- visors, circuit court, and clerk of courts. It will thus be seen that a county judge in those days had abundant opportunity to earn the little pay he received.

Jeremiah Farris was the first county judge of Bremer county, being unani- mously elected in August, 1853, at which election there were cighty votes polled. Judge Farris' duties began immediately after his election. He was re-elected in 1855, and served until August, 1857. Jeremiah Farris came to Bremer county, with his family, at an early day, from Fulton county, Illinois, and settled on a farm upon which the town plat of Jeffer- son City was subsequently located. He was a "hard-shell " democrat, but in early days, party lines were not very rigidly drawn. When he was elected to office he removed to Waverly, leaving a son upon the place. One of his sons yet remains in Jefferson township.

After the expiration of his term, Judge Farris engaged in the mercantile trade at Waverly, with John H. Martin. About the time the war broke out he moved to

Burton county, Kansas, where he died a few years ago. Judge Farris was not a man of much education, but he was a man of good, common sense, and of honest motives. His sociability made him popu- lar, and he was well liked by all. It was a failure of his that he could not, or would not resist the temptation to now and then take a glass of something for the stomach's sake; but he always knew just how far he was going with it, and when he reached that certain point, he quit. It is told, by way of a joke, that on one occasion a face- tious correspondent addressed him as "Jerry Farris, Esq., County Jug." However, the Judge is now dead and gone; but he will always be remembered by those who knew him as a man who never betrayed a trust, and whose impulses were always honorable.

George W. Maxfield succeeded Mr. Far- ris, assuming his duties in August, 1857. In 1859 he was re-elected, and served until January, 1862. He was born in Herkimer county, New York. In 1854 he came west, and after some time spent in prospecting in Iowa and Minnesota, he located at Janes- ville, where he engaged in mercantile pur- suits. At the election, in 1856, he was elected justice of the peace, the duties of which office he performed with ability until the fall of 1857, when he was elected to the responsible office of county judge. He discharged the duties of judge in so accept- able a manner to the citizens of Bremer county, that in 1859 he was re-elected. His election and re-election both attest the esti- mation in which he was held by his fellow citizens, for when party strife ran high he was elected on the democratic ticket in a strongly republican county. As a finan- cier he was seldom equaled. In the man-

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HISTORY OF BREMER COUNTY.

agement of his affairs, both public and private, he bent his every energy, and crowded into his short life what many men need three score and ten years to accomplish. In 1860 he was the democratic candidate for State Auditor. He died shortly after the expiration of his second term. He was buried by Tyrrell Lodge, No. 116, of Free and Accepted Masons, (of which lodge he was an active and honored member), in due and ancient form; assisted by the brethren from Cedar Falls and Janesville. IIe left a wife and two small daughters to mourn the loss of a kind husband and affectionate father. In the death of Judge Maxfield Bremer county lost one of its best citizens.

At the October election in 1861 Mat- thew Rowen was elected to succeed Mr. Maxfield to the judgeship. In the mean- time the board of supervisors had been created and it took much of the business out of the judge's hands. Judge Rowen was also elected from Janesville, where he was an early settler. He was a farmer and a Republican. One of his sons still resides at or near Janesville.

In October, 1863, George W. Ruddick was elected county judge and served from January, 1864, to January, 1866. He is now judge of the district court.

Orrin F. Avery succeeded Judge Rud- dick and was re-elected, serving until January, 1869. He was a prominent law- yer in Bremer county and is mentioned at length in connection with the Bar chap- ter.

Louis Case was appointed county judge in January, 1869, serving in that capacity one year when the office was abolished by law, and that of

COUNTY AUDITOR,

was created, the judge being made ex-of- ficio county auditor. Louis Case was by these means made first county auditor. In October, 1869, he was elected and served from January, 1869, to January, 1 ×72.

S. H. Morse was elected to succeed Mr. Case, was re-elected and served from Jan- nary, 1872, to January, 1876.

The present auditor of Bremer county, Herman Rust, was next clected. He is a native of Du Page county, Illinois, and was born on the 6th day of October, 1851. He is a son of Louis and Louisa (Hane- buth) Rust, who were born in Germany, and there lived until 1848, when they immigrated to America, and settled in Du Page county, Illinois, and there, as stated above, their son of whom we write, was born. In 1863 he came with his parents to Bremer county, and settled on a farm in Jefferson township. His parents now reside in Warren township. In the spring of 1866 he came to Waverly, and entered the store of George Evans, de- ceased, as clerk. In the spring of 1867, hc entered the grocery store of T. C. Aldrich, as clerk, in whose employ he remained until January 1, 1876. In 1875 he was elected to the office of county auditor for the term beginning January 1, 1876, and has since been re-elected three times, the last time in 1881. Mr. Rust makes an efficient officer, gentlemanly and accom- modating. He is popular among his con- stituents. He is principally a sclf-edu- cated man, not having had the opportuni- ties of any schooling since his fifteenth year. In 1879 he was married to Miss Belle Acken, a daughter of John Acken, and a native of Bremer county. She was

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HISTORY OF BREMER COUNTY.

born in Douglas township in 1856. In 1870 she came with her parents to Waverly and entered the schools, and was a mem- ber of the first class which graduated from the Waverly high school. She is at pres- ent, deputy auditor, and the first lady official the county has ever had.

TREASURER AND RECORDER.

This office was created when the county was organized. The first treasurer and recorder was John Hunter, who was elected August, 1853, receiving 80 votes --- all that were polled. He served until his successor qualified in August, 1855. Hunter was from Fulton county, Illinois, and came to Bremer county at a very early day, settling in Janesville, where he lived at the time of his election, engaged in merchandising. He remained here for a number of years, but finally removed to Louisa county, Iowa, where he died some years ago. Not much is remembered of him, more than that he was a jovial, good- natured fellow, and attended to the little business of the office with fair efficiency.

William B. Hamilton, the next treas- urer and recorder, was first elected in August, 1855, and re-elected and served from August, 1855, to January, 1860. He was one of the first settlers in Waverly, where he was engaged in mercantile busi- ness. He came here from Independence, and in the spring of 1861 started for Cali- fornia, with his wife and children, for the benefit of his health. He was then quite feeble. While en route, and when near Fort Laramie, he was seized with a fit of coughing and strangulation, on the evening of July 3, 1861, and died in a few mo- ments. His last words were, "Here I go!

here I go! here I go!" Mr. Hamilton left many friends in Bremer county. His wife went on to California, but has returned to Iowa, married again, and now lives in Waterloo.

W. W. Norris was successor to Mr. Ilamilton, and served from January, 1860, until January, 1862. Norris was a demo- crat politically, and a native of Illinois. He was fairly educated, had a good allow_ ance of common sense, and endowed by nature with a genial disposition, which makes a man popular. He had already served one term as school superintendent and is noted in that connection. A few years after serving, he returned to Illinois and his whereabouts at present are un- known.

On the 2d of January, 1862, an iron safe in a vault in the office of the county treasurer, in the court house, was feloni- ously opened by (it is supposed) one Knowles, a professional cracksman, who first burglariously entered the house of W. W. Norris and procured the necessary keys for the purpose. About $7,000 in money, about $2,000 of which were funds belong- ing to the State, besides many valuable papers were abstracted. R. J. Stephen- son, a former supervisor of the county, and a third person named Bemis, were (then supposed to be) confederates in the robbery. After a long protracted and persistent pursuit, all the parties impli- cated in the affair were arrested, each in a different and remote part of the country. For want of sufficient testimony, however, to secure their conviction, they were final- ly acquitted. About $1,100 was recovered but fully this much was expended in pur- suit and prosecution.

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HISTORY OF BREMER COUNTY.

At the October election, in 1861, Caleb Morse was elected to succeed Norris. At the expiration of his first term he was re- elected, and served from January, 1862, to January, 1866. During his term the General Assembly passed an act separat- ing the two offices, and defining the duties of each. Caleb Morse was the last treas- urer and recorder. He is still a much esteemed citizen of Waverly, and a pioneer of Bremer county. He was born in Salis- bury, Massachusetts, August 19, 1808. Hc received an excellent common school edu- cation in his native State, and continued to reside there for a number of years. In 1846, he left his native State, in company with two other families, emigrated to St. Croix, Wisconsin. There he was employed by a Boston firm in the lumber interest -- the company consisting of such men as Caleb Cushing, Robert Rantoon and B. F. Cheever. At that date there were but few settlements on the banks of the Mis- . sissippi river, and no educational advan- tages, therefore Mr. Morse, having a family of small children, whom he desircd to have well educated, left that section of the country. He returned by river to Galena, Illinois, and thence to Monroe, Wisconsin, where he continued to live until 1856, and then came with his family to Waverly, Bremer county, where he purchased land and soon had a comfortable liome. In 1861, he was elected to the office of county treasurer and recorder, and four years later was elected one of the county supervisors. Mr. Morse has. also ·held the office of mayor of Waverly, and in 1876, received the honor of being com- missioned one of the committee to visit the Centennial. The family are members of the Congregational Church.

COUNTY TREASURER.

In October, 1865, W. V. Lucas was elected to this office, and was first to serve exclusively as county treasurer. In Janu- ary, 1866, he assumed his duties, and in the fall of 1867 was re-elected, and again re- elected in the fall of 1869, serving six years in all. Mr. Lucas now lives at Mason City, Cerro Gordo county, and has since served one term as Auditor of State, in which con- nection more will be found regarding him.

George Morehouse succeeded Mr. Lucas, and being re-elected served four years, from January, 1872, until January, 1876. Mr. Morehouse had settled at Janesville at an early day with his family, consisting of a wife and one child. He was a good business man, and well qualified to dis- charge the duties of the office. He made an accommodating and efficient officer. After his term expired, he was for some time cashier of the Bremer County Bank, and finally, a few years ago, went to Brookings, Dakota Territory, where he is engaged in the banking business.

George W. Nash was successor to Mr. Morehouse, and served all of one term and a portion of another. Upon his resigna- tion he went to Dakota, and the present county treasurer, S. F. Baker, was ap- pointed.

In the fall of 1881, Mr. Baker was elected his own successor, and is the present in- cumbent.

The present treasurer of Bremer county, S. F. Baker, was born on the 29th day of October, 1846, in Putnam county, Illinois. He is a son of Amanda A. (Rose) and Fla- ville Baker. The latter was a native of Vermont, and cmigrated to Putnam county in 1842. He was a mechanical genius, and

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HISTORY OF BREMER COUNTY.

constructed the first reaper propably that was ever used in the United States. While preparing the mnodel, he was taken sick, and soon after died, leaving others to reap the harvest of his labors. The only sur- vivor of six children (threc sons and three daughters) is S. F., of whom we write. He received a collegiate education at Dexter, Maine, and in 1864 enlisted in company B, 146th Illinois Infantry, serving until mustered out at the close of the rebellion. During the spring of 1865, he came to Bremer county, Iowa, locating in Waverly, where he continues to reside. In 1881 Mr. Baker was appointed county treasurer, to fill the vacancy left by G. W. Nash, and the following fall was elected to the office. In 1871 he was married, choosing for a helpmeet Miss Eve J. LeVally, daughter of G. W. Le Vally, an early set- tler of Bremer county. She was born in 1852. Two children have blessed the union -- Bertrand E. and Clyde N.

COUNTY RECORDER.

This office was formerly connected with that of treasurer, but, as stated, was sepa- rated by an act of the General Assembly in 1863-64. Louis Case was the first re- corder after the division. He was elected in the fall of 1864, and served through the years 1865 and 1866.

E. C. Dougherty succeeded Mr. Case -- was re-elected in 1868, and served four years, from January, 1867, to January 1871. He subsequently went to the Mountains, where he was engaged in some mining enterprise. He is now in Chicago en- gaged in the manufacture of hair mat- tresses.

John W. Rowray was the next recorder, and also served four years. He made an accommodating and capable officer. His term began January 1, 1871, and expired in January, 1875.

In the fall of 1874, H. S. Munger was elected recorder, and two years later was re-elected serving until January 1879. Mr. Munger is still a much esteemed and prominent citizen of Waverly. He made an efficient officer.

Henry Kasemeier was Mr. Munger's successor, and is the present recorder. He was first elected in the fall of 1878, was re-elected in the fall of 1880, and again in the fall of 1882. He was born July 5, 1855, in Bremer county, Iowa, and is a son of Elizabeth (Ebel) and John Kasemeier, natives of Germany. His father emigrated to the United States in 1847, and first located in Cook county, Illi- nois, where he remained about six years. At the expiration of that time he removed to Bremer county, Iowa, settling in Fre- mont township, where he entered a num- ber of acres of wild prairic land, which he immediately began cultivating. The sub- ject of this sketch was educated princi- pally in the common schools, he however, attended the State Normal School at Cedar Falls, two terms.

CLERK OF COURTS.

This office was in existence at the time the county was organized. At the first election, in August, 1853, Heman A. Miles was elected clerk of the courts, for Bremer county. He made a good officer, and was re-elected in 1854 and 1856, serv- ing until January, 1859. Mr. Miles is now in Larado, Texas, having left Bremer

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HISTORY OF BREMER COUNTY.

county in 1873. In the chapter entitled " Reminiscences " will be found a very in- teresting letter from him, to which the reader is referred.

In October, 1858, Louis Case was elected clerk of the courts, to succeed Mr. Miles. He served his first term and was re-elected for a second, turning over the office to his successor, H. C. Moore, in January, 1863.

H. C. Moore was re-elected two succes- sive terms, in 1864 and 1866, serving six years. At the time of his election Mr. Moore was a farmer, living in Leroy township; but moved into Waverly when elected. He now resides in Oscaloosa.

M. F. Gillett, of Frederika township, was the next clerk, being elected in the fall of 1868, and re-elected in 1870, serv- ing until January, 1873. He is still a resi- dent of the county.

Marquis F. Gillett now lives on section 29, Frederika township, within a'few miles of Tripoli. He was born in Ontario county, New York, March 20, 1824, and is the son of David B. and Sylvania T. (Moon) Gillett. His father was a native of Hartford, Counecticut, and his mother of the State of New York. In 1837, he removed from his native county with his parents, to Ashtabula county Ohio, where they remained until 1840, in which year his parents moved to Stephenson county, Illinois, leaving Mr. Gillett behind them to learn the trade of tanner and currier. Five years later he followed them, taught school two years, and then returned to Ohio, settling in Summit County, where he followed his trade for about four years, and then rejoined his family in Stephen- son county, Illinois, upon his twenty-eighth birthday. Remaining there until June of

the following year (1851), he started alone for the west, in search of a home for him- self, and during the next year wandered around among the then thinly settled Western States, finally making selection of his present home, and entering it at the United States Land Office at Dubuque. Being a single man, he for the next two years, and while he was breaking and fencing his farm, boarded with L. C. Rima and W. R. Bostwick. In 1854, he began getting lumber together to build a dwelling; hauling much of it from a saw-mill at Chickasaw, Chickasaw county, and in the following year, upon his thirty-second birth- day, he married Miss Olivia A. Walling, a daughter of Peter and Esther (Bigelow) Walling. The ceremony was performed by Squire Rima, who was the first settler in the township, and its first justice of the peace, and they were the first couple which he was called upon to unite, and the first to be married within the township. The children of this union, with the dates of their births, are as follows: Lois, Decem- ber 20, 1855; Edwin R., December 27, 1856; Frank W., March 23, 1858; Norman W., September 11, 1859; Albert L., Au- gust 4, 1862; Leversee M., January 4, 1864; Likum S., August 2, 1867; Nettie M., December 22, 1869; Fayette M., Septem- ber 16, 1871. On May 27, 1861, Mr. Gillett enlisted at Cedar Falls, in Company K, Third Iowa Infantry, and served one year, taking part in the various encounters of the army of the Tennessee, up to the battle of Shiloh, where he was injured so severely as to necessitate his discharge. Mr. Gillett has filled a long roll of county and town- ship offices. He was from 1868 to 1873, clerk of the courts. He has been township

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History of Butler and Bremer counties, Iowa, Part 102

Author: Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company Number of Pages: 1316

Author: Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1316